Woman sues teenagers who brought her cookies

If you haven't heard about this story check out this article before reading further. I watched a Court TV segment addressing the "Cookie" Lawsuit. They spoke to three people involved in the lawsuit: The plaintiff, her husband, and their attorney. I'll refer to the woman who sued as "the plaintiff" and the teenage girls as "the defendants." Here are some of my notes from the show:

- Incident occurred at 10:30pm

- Defendants drove to Plaintiff's house located in a rural community approximately 12 miles from where the defendants live

- Plaintiff's closest neighbor is 1/4 away

- Defendants parked their car down the road from plaintiff's house

- Defendants crossed plaintiff's property by walking across a field and climbing over a fence

- Defendants went to the back door

- Defendants admitted to banging loudly on the door

- Defendants did not respond to plaintiff asking "who is there?"

- Defendants jumped and hid when plaintiff looked out the window

- Plaintiff went to hospital with "symptoms of a heart attack" (pressure in chest, rapid heart rate)

- Plaintiff was diagnosed with having an anxiety attack

- The mothers of the defendants visited plaintiff 3 days after incident and offered to pay plaintiff's medical bills

- Plaintiff agreed to defendants paying medical bills and sent both families proof of her $890 bill (it was to be split between the defendants)

- Plaintiff then received a legal document (a "release") from defendants asking for her to waive all legal rights in consideration for the $890 (payment was not included with document)

[I'm uncertain about the chronology from here but it seems to me that it was at this point that she decided to file a lawsuit. However, she claims she decided to sue after calling one of the defendants' parents who responded that they were advised by legal counsel not to speak to plaintiff.]

- Plaintiff and her family have received death threats and harassing phone calls/mail from all over the country

-------

My opinion on this (I've only heard plaintiff's side) is that the defendants were probably trying to be funny and didn't have the most sincere intentions. They probably knew who the family was and were trying to harass them without looking like they were trying to harass (why else would they choose such an out of the way and seemingly random house?).

As for the lawsuit, I don't think it falls into the category of "frivolous." The woman was caused some distress but, to me, it falls into the category of things that people need to just suck it up and accept as being part of life. People get so wrapped up in the idea that they could sue that they never stop to think whether they should. People need to realize that life involves mental, emotional, and physical highs and lows that are not always controllable. Basically, things like this will happen from time to time and you can't look to litigation to relieve the "stresses" of ordinary life.

To me, the real cause of the lawsuit is the greater problem of social distrust and insecurity. People simply don't trust each other, so they run to an attorney to make sure they're protected. This lawsuit would likely never have been filed if the defendants didn't send the release document. But you can't blame them for wanting to make sure that this was sufficient to end the dispute. So then, you have the plaintiff facing a serious and imposing document she doesn't understand. Instead of just signing it without fully understanding it, she has two options: 1) call the defendants to ask why this is necessary (which she did and was informed they would not speak for legal reasons); or 2) contact an attorney who will likely cost at least half of the $890 just to look at the release and give a recommendation and may also inform her of potential "damages" she could win if she filed a lawsuit. The problem is that Option 1 will usually result in Option 2 and Option 2 will almost always result in litigation. So, the parties find themselves quickly sliding into a lawsuit.

Is there anything that can be done? Probably not. The parties did the right thing in the beginning by simply talking and informally agreeing to a simple settlement. But fear then took over and the defendants insisted on a formal release (which was reasonable but likely unnecessary) which caused fear in the plaintiff (which was reasonable but likely unnecessary). Then the legal process took over and personal visits turned into phone calls, phone calls turned into letters, and letters turned into legal documents. It's too bad, but that's just how it is today.

All in all, is the plaintiff a cranky, old, insensitive bitch? No, in fact, she's too sensitive. Are the defendants sweet, innocent girl scouts? No, they were likely trying to be little smart asses. I hope I've offered a different perspective on how this story initially sounded. This story is not about an old woman, two teenagers, and some cookies. It's about the inherent problems with society's modern way of resolving disputes.